Drake's Rhapsody
by Draconathus
Summary: A simple walk in the rain can change everything. A crossover of multiple characters from many series and a few OCs, in an AU Twilight Town


UM – Drake's Rhapsody

UM= Ultimate Mash-up, Stories featuring some of my favorite characters and places from everything, plus some OCs, also AU

My first Fanfic ever, feel free to review

Dedicated to Perfect Sorceress, whose excellent writing encouraged me to try.

I claim rights to my characters, but I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Rave

Rain lightly fell on Twilight Town as Belnika walked unhurried through the market stalls of the Train Common. All around her people hurried for cover and fumbled with umbrellas in an attempt to stay dry, and carts began to be closed down by their owners who decided to end the day quickly now that the rain was falling, and the sun set behind the clouds. Belnika, however, was not worried by the rain, or the possibility of getting wet. In fact she was delighted at the feel of the cool water on her skin, as she turned away from the market area and began wondering toward the beach, in no particular hurry to get home. As she walked along the boardwalk, amazed by the lights coming from the ships in the harbor, she spotted a young man sitting on a bench with his head leaned back and his eyes closed, and his hands crossed in his lap. He was clearly dressed to run, wearing a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, and a pair of ear buds in his ears connected to his phone, which was strapped to his upper arm. Belnika shyly walked up to the bench, and, without his noticing, sat down beside him, mimicking his pose.

"Hello, Orlin," she said, so quietly that at first she was afraid he hadn't heard.

Orlin slowly let a smile cross his face as he opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her. "Hey there, Belnika," he said, sitting up strait and stretching his arms out behind the bench, and, much to Belnika's shock, let his right arm rest on the back of the bench, just brushing against her back. An bright blush spread across her cheeks as she too sat up smiling nervously, and looked straight out across the water with her head tilted slightly down so her hair fell across her face. "Beautiful," was all he said next, as they both looked across the water to the opposing shore where just above the trees of the forest a few breaks appeared in the cloud cover as the rain began to stop, and the moon could be seen, shining bright and clear with barely a sliver missing.

She looked back at him only to see him looking at her with his head tilted back once again, and a small smile spread spreading across his. She immediately looked back down, not noticing that an equally bright blush now spread across Orlin's face. "So, how's your boat," she said quickly trying to divert his attention away from her as quickly as possible, then quietly cursing herself for the obvious change.

It worked, however, as Orlin looked towards the harbor, though it could not be seen in the far distance, and behind some of the much larger ships. "It's fine," he replied. Many of their friends had small sailing boats, perfect for moving through the inlets, and islands that dotted the coast. They often sailed together through the area, but when Orlin wanted he would spend hours darting through the waterway. His boat was larger than the others, 32 feet, with a small cabin and room for quite a few people if they really tried, while most others only had room force a few extra. If there was one thing everyone in the group was good at it was coming up with good boat names, and Orlin was no exception giving her the name Drake's Rhapsody, which was, in Belnika's opinion, one of the most beautiful name she had ever heard. Sometime he even spent days camped out in the islands of the river's delta, even out further out along the coast, once even going so far as to sail ninety miles out to sea in order to get to a nearby island town just to buy a box of ice cream. Nobody knew the local waters like him. "I would love for you to come with me sometime, if you would like," he said, surprising Belnika. They often went on each other's boats, especially since Orlin had so much room, but he had never invited anyone to with him alone. He always enjoyed the calm of being alone at sea.

They sat for a while longer until the rain had fully stopped and Balnika stood, saying that she had to leave. Belnika was surprised again when Orlin stood as well. "I'll walk you home," he offered, to which she simply smiled and nodded. The walk to Belnika's apartment was made in comfortable silence with the occasional remark about how clear the sky had already gotten, or how nice the temperature was. Once they entered the building a sudden rush of cold air hit them and the quickly remembered how wet they were, and laughed to themselves.

"You should come up and dry off," suggested Belnika, seeing how much Orlin was shivering, but he declined.

"I'll warm up quick enough on the run home, besides my place is only a few blocks away," he said. She often forgot how close he lived, since most of the others live closer to the harbor, in a small apartment with a bar called The Ranger on the ground floor, the whole thing of which was owned by one of their close friends, J.D. It was the perfect business/hangout, for which J.D. was very proud.

He walked her up to the door of her apartment, where they both stopped and looked at each other once again. "Thanks for talking with me," she said as she unlocked the door.

"My pleasure, Bel," Orlin replied. As he turned to leave he stopped, "Thanks for sitting down next to me," he said as he took a step closer to her.

"Happy too," Belnika whisper almost inaudibly as she took a step toward him. They stopped inches from each other as Orlin's hand moved up, brushing the underside of her jaw, and gently guiding it up as he leaned down. Their lips met in a light kiss as Belnika's hands move up to hold his arms, and then wound around his neck gently and his free hand ran along her side and moved to the small of her back. After a few moments they broke away, feeling as if the kiss had lasted forever, and yet not near long enough. His hand still brushed her cheek as they leaned in and let their foreheads rest against each other. "Goodnight," Belnika whispered happily, looking straight in to Orlin deep green eyes.

"Goodnight, Belnika," was all Orlin replied as they finally left each other's arms, Belnika moving through her door, Orlin walking down the hall. Neither looked back at the other, they could only look forward in hope, and happiness.


End file.
